Nonfiction Books
Last updated: May 21, 2025
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The Fire of the Dragon: China’s New Cold War
by Ian Williams -
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Invasion: Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival
by Luke Harding -
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Who Cares: The Hidden Crisis of Caregiving, and How We Solve It
by Emily Kenway -
4
The Last Colony: A Tale of Exile, Justice and Britain’s Colonial Legacy
by Philippe Sands -
5
The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule
by Angela Saini
The 2023 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, recommended by Martha Lane Fox
The 2023 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, recommended by Martha Lane Fox
The Orwell Prizes are the UK’s most prestigious prizes for writing about politics, awarded annually to books and articles that best meet George Orwell’s own ambition “to make political writing into an art.” Martha Lane Fox, chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the shortlist of the 2023 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, awarded annually to a nonfiction book.
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The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
by Amitav Ghosh -
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Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of a Civilization
by Roy Scranton -
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Love in the Anthropocene
by Bonnie Nadzam & Dale Jamieson -
4
The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free Markets since the Depression
by Angus Burgin -
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The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy
by Michael E Mann & Tom Toles
The best books on The Politics of Climate Change, recommended by Naomi Oreskes
The best books on The Politics of Climate Change, recommended by Naomi Oreskes
‘We’re on a path that is going to lead to tremendous destruction and yet most of us are going about our lives as if nothing particularly special is happening.’ The science of climate change is incontrovertible but deniers persist and political and economic solutions continue to be – systematically – frustrated. Time is running out, says Naomi Oreskes
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Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne
by Katherine Rundell -
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Devil-Land: England Under Siege, 1588-1688
by Clare Jackson -
3
A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Chapters
by Henry Gee -
4
Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate
by M E Sarotte -
5
My Fourth Time, We Drowned
by Sally Hayden -
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Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology
by Chris Miller
Award Winning Nonfiction Books of 2022, recommended by Sophie Roell
Award Winning Nonfiction Books of 2022, recommended by Sophie Roell
It’s that time of year when there are dozens of the best-of-the-year lists. Which books are worth reading? One way of narrowing it down is by looking at the various awards that celebrate books across a range of nonfiction categories. Five Books editor Sophie Roell does a roundup of nonfiction books that won prizes in 2022.
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Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire
by Caroline Elkins -
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The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World
by Jonathan Freedland -
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My Fourth Time, We Drowned
by Sally Hayden -
4
The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown
by Anna Keay -
5
A Fortunate Woman: A Country Doctor’s Story
by Polly Morland -
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Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne
by Katherine Rundell
The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist, recommended by Caroline Sanderson
The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist, recommended by Caroline Sanderson
Every year the judges of the Baillie Gifford Prize pick out the best nonfiction books published in the United Kingdom over the previous 12 months. Author and books journalist Caroline Sanderson, chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the books that made the 2022 shortlist, books that are important, readable and will hopefully surprise you.
The best books on Immersive Nonfiction, recommended by Will Storr
A good writer must always aim to write the truth – a more complex narrative than one of heroes and villains. But to find the truth, sometimes you’ve got to get up and go there yourself, says Will Storr, journalist and author of Selfie. Here he selects five books that have inspired his own immersive approach to nonfiction.
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My Fourth Time, We Drowned
by Sally Hayden -
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Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad
by Michela Wrong -
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Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy
by Adam Tooze -
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Orwell's Roses
by Rebecca Solnit -
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Things I Have Withheld
by Kei Miller -
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The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
by David Graeber & David Wengrow
The Best Politics Books: the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, recommended by David Edgerton
The Best Politics Books: the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, recommended by David Edgerton
From the dawn of humanity to the Covid crisis, from a study in power to the plight of the powerless, the Orwell Prize for Political Writing looks for books that break through the mendacities of politics and rise to the challenge of our times, explains historian David Edgerton, chair of this year’s judging panel. He talks us through the ten fabulous books that made the 2022 shortlist.
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A Hacker's Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society's Rules, and How to Bend them Back
by Bruce Schneier -
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Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires
by Douglas Rushkoff -
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Responding to the Right: Brief Replies to 25 Conservative Arguments
by Nathan Robinson -
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Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power
by David Dayen -
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Break 'Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money
by Zephyr Teachout
The best books on Chokepoint Capitalism, recommended by Cory Doctorow
The best books on Chokepoint Capitalism, recommended by Cory Doctorow
Modern market economies face a growing malaise, says activist and science fiction author Cory Doctorow: powerful actors creating ‘chokepoints’ between producers and consumers, causing untenable conditions for both. Here he picks out the best books he’s reviewed over the last two years and explains why they’re important.
Chinese Life Stories, recommended by Jeffrey Wasserstrom
Historian and Sinologist Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Chancellor’s Professor, History at UC Irvine, says that to get a real sense of China you need to focus on individuals and their stories. Here he chooses five books that draw on the country’s long tradition of biographical writing.
The best books on Great Letter Writers, recommended by Jonathan Keates
Queen Victoria was anything but Victorian and Lord Byron was more vulnerable than we think, says writer Jonathan Keates – who considers emails a poor substitute for a hand-written correspondence.
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The Care of Books: An Essay on the Development of Libraries and Their Fittings, From the Earliest Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century
by John Willis Clark -
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Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life
by Eric Klinenberg -
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The Library Book
by Susan Orlean -
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The Library: A World History
by James Campbell & Will Pryce (photographer) -
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The Library at Night
by Alberto Manguel
The best books on Libraries, recommended by Richard Ovenden
The best books on Libraries, recommended by Richard Ovenden
Knowledge is power and nowhere has it been better preserved down the millennia than in libraries. Here Richard Ovenden, author of Burning the Books and the librarian in charge of Oxford University’s Bodleian Libraries, talks us through books that shed light on what libraries are and what they do, and why they remain absolutely vital in our digital age.